Mobile phone importers have said that if the Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) is effectively implemented, the country’s annual revenue collection will increase by four billion rupees.
The mobile importers said so at an interaction organized in Kathmandu to inform the people about the MDMS.
They said that due to the non-implementation of the MDMS earlier, mobile phones worth billions of rupees entered Nepal illegally and the state had to lose revenue worth billions of rupees.
Speaking at the event, Deepak Malhotra, president of Mobile Phone Importers’ Association (MPIA), said that there is a false rumor that the prices of mobile phones will increase with the implementation of the MDMS in the market. He mentioned that mobile buyers will not be cheated as stolen, refurbished and low quality phones will not be brought in Nepal due to the MDMS.
He said that the actual mobile phone business has shrunk to 30 percent due to the illegal mobile import. However, Malhotra claimed that after May 15, the business is gradually getting back to normal due to the MDMS.
Similarly, chairman of Nepal Telecommunication Authority, Purushottam Khanal said that the MDMS has been implemented to control low quality mobile phones as mobile phones that are not allowed to be used in Nepal were seen in the Nepali market. He clarified that instead of collecting revenue, the authority is implementing the MDMS to control the black market.
Khanal urged the mobile phone entrepreneurs not to understand otherwise, stating that when the authority implemented a system against black market, it is in favor of the entrepreneurs. He also mentioned that the propaganda that the government introduced the MDMS to benefit certain entrepreneurs was wrong.
Likewise, speaking at the event, Punya Bikram Khadka, the spokesperson for the Department of Customs, said that they are going to introduce online registration for mobile phones brought from abroad in the MDMS. He said that in order to make the customs process of mobile phones brought from abroad simple and immediate, a separate help desk has been arranged at the customs office of the international airport with additional manpower.
Khadka said that the MDMS was implemented not only to collect taxes but also to make the use of mobile phones safe as they are used in criminal activities as well.
